In his first in-depth interview since his Calvin Klein debut, Raf Simons opens up to Vanity Fair’s Bob Colacello in the book’s September issue on making his mark on the fashion empire and how he plans to continue making the brand distinctly his own.
“What I want to say about Calvin’s heritage and its marketing power is that I need to abstract it in my head and then see how I’m going to deal with it,” Simons told Colacello. “If you ask me about Calvin’s clothes, I’m not actually looking into that much right now. It’s not because I don’t want to be respectful. It’s more to protect myself, because I think I have a clear point of view of where I want to go with it. What I feel more important for myself is to take his guts.”
Simons also explained to Colacello that he believes his primary mission in his current role is to restore the kind of customer loyalty that the brand was known for in Klein’s heyday. “Back when I started to look at fashion, women and men would embrace a house or houses, but usually very few,” he said. “And they would be very connected [to that brand]. When I started to go to some shows in Paris, I would see Comme des Garçons women, Martin Margiela women, Gaultier women. Now women might have a bag from one brand, shoes from another, and a skirt from a third. But all these brands stand for completely different things … I’m very dedicated to Coca-Cola Zero, you know what I mean? I don’t want something else. I think when somebody connects to a fashion brand, it’s not only for the clothes. It’s two different things, clothes and fashion.”
Simons also reminisces about the first time he met Klein, how he is influenced by the art world, and more. Click HERE to read the article in full.
